GREEN BAY – The third practice of training camp took place Friday at Ray Nitschke Field ahead of an off day Saturday.
Here are five things learned from the workout.
- LB Edgerrin Cooper hasn’t completely given up his favorite snack.
In putting on 10-12 pounds of lean muscle mass this offseason, the now 240-pound Cooper focused on both his diet and training heading into Year 2.
The hardest of the “bad foods” he had to give up?
“Nutter butters,” Cooper said. “I still sneak one in every now and then. Can’t change the routine too much.”
All joking aside, last year’s second-round pick and Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate (he finished sixth in the voting despite missing three games) quickly developed into a formidable threat in coordinator Jeff Hafley’s scheme, and a lot of expectations have been piled upon him for 2025.
He’s doing his best to shove those aside and just focus on his game. He does notice a difference with the extra muscle he added.
“I’m stronger. I feel I’m able to hold my ground more,” he said. “Just those things I wish I had last year.
“Still same speed. I feel like I’m still moving around. I’m just ready to get after it.”
- CB Carrington Valentine and WR Dontayvion Wicks made the plays of the day.
Valentine snagged his second interception in as many days against No. 2 QB Malik Willis, this one coming when WR Julian Hicks fell down on a stutter-go amidst contact at the line of scrimmage. Valentine ran under Willis’ lob and made the play.
He nearly had his third interception in the last two practices on a contested ball against rookie receiver Matthew Golden, who was running either an out or a comeback route. Neither player could come away with it.
“For me, I’ve always got the mindset to make those type of catches, so I feel like I should’ve came down with it,” Golden said.
Good play by Valentine, though?
“I’d definitely say good play, yeah.”
Valentine has been shifting back and forth between the No. 1 and 2 defenses based on the coverage packages. The primary nickel group with the first defense has featured CBs Keisean Nixon and Nate Hobbs outside, with S Javon Bullard in the slot. Valentine has rotated into that mix.
But when he’s with the second unit, he hasn’t changed his approach at all.
“I mean, he just plays aggressive,” receiver Jayden Reed said. “He likes to get his hands on (you), he’s lengthy. So if he can get his hands on, he’s very competitive. He’s going to fight to the whistle. That’s just the fire he brings to the game.”
Offensively, Wicks made the highlight reel when he hauled in a long TD from QB Jordan Love on a slightly extended play. One snap after Love had slightly underthrown Romeo Doubs on a deep ball, with Nixon breaking it up, QB1 bought some time in the pocket by shuffling to his left, stepped up and let it rip.
Wicks had been running a post route and broke free over the middle when Love broke the pocket. The ball hit him in stride, and he was off toward the goal line.
“I released, ran full speed. I knew X (Xavier McKinney) was over the top so I stemmed out a little bit and broke flat across,” Wicks said. “It was a runaway and J-Love gave me the ball, and I ran under it and that was all from there.”
- Reed needed some recovery time this offseason.
Reed’s second pro season ended with a nasty-looking shoulder injury in the Packers’ playoff loss at Philadelphia. Fortunately, the shoulder didn’t need surgery, but it wasn’t fully back to normal until recently.
“It was definitely a long recovery,” Reed said. “Took a lot of patience. Probably took about five months to be feeling good.”
He added he never felt quite right until he could throw a football again, when he could rotate his arm. But he’s good now and looking to build on being the Packers’ leading receiver each of the last two years.
As one of several receivers who had his share of dropped passes last year, Reed bought a JUGS machine to help with fundamental work in the offseason while training in south Florida. He and Wicks fed the machine for one another, and other times his girlfriend or another buddy helped out.
Regarding his goals for Year 3, Reed is keeping those to himself, if he’s specified any at all. He was 143 receiving yards shy of 1,000 last season.
“I’m not really worried about what’s going to happen with me,” he said. “I’m more worried about how the team’s going to do.
“At the end of the day, I’m big on having good energy, because I believe the ball finds good energy. I don’t think I had a catch today, but I’m hyped up after I’m blocking, I’m hyped up after Wicks scoring, I’m hyped up after anybody catching the ball.”
- LG Aaron Banks is dealing with a back injury.
The free-agent acquisition stepped aside during Thursday’s practice when his back started bothering him, and then he sat out all of Friday’s workout.
His injury, along with the continued absence of Elgton Jenkins, who also is dealing with his back, led to several other O-line combinations being tried with the first unit.
One had Sean Rhyan at center, Jordan Morgan at left guard and Jacob Monk at right guard. Rhyan and Monk also switched spots in different periods, while Morgan took some snaps late in practice at left tackle, with Travis Glover – who was Banks’ replacement on Thursday – stepping in at guard.
The other new injury is to rookie receiver Savion Williams, who missed practice due to a concussion. He was out on the practice field observing.
- K Brandon McManus already looks locked in.
The veteran kicker, who came to Green Bay last October and then was re-signed to a long-term contract extension after a strong season, hasn’t missed yet in camp.
McManus, whose birthday was Friday, followed up a 6-for-6 outing Wednesday by going 9-for-9, including three makes from 50-plus yards, the longest from 56.
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